Steam-generating plant.



\ A. E. DOBBS, W. EAST & J. S. HOWKINS.

STEAM GENERATING PLANT.. APPLICATION FILED AUG. 28. 1909.

I 992,644. Patented May 16, 1911.

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Ja/m ef zu leq flow/51218 A. E. DOBBS, W. EAST & J. S. HOWKINS.

STEAM GENERATING PLANT APBLIOATION FILED AUG. 28,. 19091 Patented May 16, 1911;

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A. E. DOBBS, W. EAST & J. S. HOWKINS.

STEAM GENERATING PLANT.

APPLIOATION FILED AUG. 28, 19094 Patented May 16, 19 11.

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WIT 68129 A. E. D OBBS, W. EAST & J. S. HOWKINS STEAM- GENERATING PLANT.

I APPLICATION FILED AUG-'28, 1909. 992,644. Patented May 16, 1911.

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A. E. DOBBS, W. EAST & J. s. HOWKINS. STEAM GENERATING PLANT.

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992,644. Y -PatentedMay 16,1911.

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I/Irmum A E. DOBBS, W. EAST & J. s. HOWKIINS.

I STEAM GENERATING PLANT.

Patented M APPLICATION FILED AUG. 28, 1909.

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mrmsis "UNITED PAT T OFF C v ARCHIE-AID nnvvnnn bones, on casrnn bonnsnnnn cnnnroxrnnensgmnrnnn,

WALTER EAST, OF BQURNEMOUTH LONDON, ENGLAND.

AND some snmnnr nowxms, OFTFULHAH,' srnnm-ennnnaamo .r znenr.

Application filed August 28, 1909. Serial Ito. 515,105.

. To all whom it may-concern:

Be it. known that We, AncHnsALn Enwsno Donns,resid i'ng at Castle Dobbs, near Car rickfergus. county Antriin; Ireland, \V'AL'rnn EAST, residing at Dol Per1s.- Surrey Road, .Bournemouth,- J..'P.. and JOHN SHIRLEY- Hownrns, residing at 40 Waldemar Mansions, \Valdemaravenue. Fulham, London,-

S. V; England; subjects of the King of lreat Britain and Ireland, have inventedcertain new and' useful Improvements in and Relating to Steam-Generating Plants, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to boilers of the type commonly known as flash boilers in which the feed water with or Without a pre liininary heating is passed into tubular elements wherein it is convertedinto steam and .more. or less superheated. 1

In boilers of the above type as heretofore constructed difiiculties have arisen in work ing-frointhe following causes -Firstly, the absence of'anadequate reserve-of'hot feed water to meet. sudde'nove'rload demands or temporar unequal istribution-of the feedwater tothe tubular elements. Thirdly, the fluctuations in the amount of p-ressureand superheat imparted to the steam. Fourthly,- the inability to control. the-output of the boiler with regularity,

'1 be understood tdimplyj a largefavailable re- The object of this invention is to provide a boiler in-whichthe. above difficulties are overcome in a simple and efficient manner.

The invention consists in a steam generator homprisin a flash element: combined with a therina storage element so that the contents of the thermal storage element may be delivered tothe overloads. I p The expression thermal storage. must flash element-for meeting serve of water at the temperature corresponding to the-pressure of the steam deliver-ed by the generator 'as in the well known Halpin thermal storage system U. S, Patent-513,922 whereby loads, great-1. in excess of the normal capacityof a boi erg-can pump stoppages. Secondly, the

I be easily met by closing the feed supply to the thermal storage elementand utilizing in the boiler 'the reserve of hot water which forms the thermal store. a

y The invention further consists in devices for .use in a boiler of the type indicated for insuring the uniform distribution of feed water toeach of the inner elements and in speciilcatioli'ot Letters Patent. 7 Patented. May 16, 1911 L I certain devices and arrangements of parts hereinafter indicated for insuring an equilibrium of-pressures thronghoutthe parts of the boiler.

Referring now'to the accompanying drawings which form part of the s ecitication,

Figure '1 is a part sectional eevation of a steam enerator' constructed accordin to the'present invention. Fig. 2 is a secthe lines EE, FF, G-Gr and H. H of cording. to one modificatiom'We provide a vessel. a preferablyv cylindrical and con- ,structed of steel. This ,drum a is designed to' withstand high pressures and to this end Fig. 5 is a-section'al elevation of thetional plan of the generator on the line is preferably "provided with a strong stay I) although insome cases this stay ma be omittedLjLeading from the bottom 0 the drum or is a downcast header 0 an upcast header'd-being provided adjacentto 6, but,

passing up into the interior of the drum, say nearlyas far as the stay I). 'Tubes'e lead from the'header c to the header (1 and in their course from" b to d pass around the inside of the furnace-walls forming a -azater wall lining to the The tubes e 51 's (Z to assist the circulation of water and the disengagement of any vapor or air libe atcd within these tubes. It is to be understood that these tubes 1., are not steam generating tubes, but merely circulating feed heating elements working in parallel with one another and working as awhole in series with the feed storage drum (4 their functions be ing to keep the stored feed water in the drum a in active circulation. In view of the fact that the chief function of the tubes 6 is to promote circulation of the water in a it will be seen that any suitable form of circulating means may be employed such for example as Field tubes, U tubes or the like.

In some cases We may employ a multiple groupingof circulating tubes or circulating means, and again We may provide means whereby portions of the furnace may be controlled separately so that the amount of circulating means heated and consequently the intensity of circulating may be controlled. The furnace controlling means'may either have an arrangementof deflectors or direct control of the furnace.

The drum a is provided with steam and water gages safety valve and the usual try and scum cocks. Surrounding the water.

wall of the tubes 6 is a wall of fire-resisting and non-conducting material which may be supported and strengthened by any suitable means such as the framing g.

Near the lower part of the furnace wall f is a steam collector h from which the steam is delivered to the engine by means of a pipe 7, this collector may be of round, D, or any other suitable section and provided with a detachable cover, plug holes or the like. In the drawings this collector is shown of round section. This collector h is preferably placed in such a position as to be heated by the furnace. Leading into h are a number of tubes 9' which may be bent into any convcnientiorm such as serpentine, spiral or the like but preferably in serpentine form as shown in the drawings. The serpentine grids j, are arranged to offer the greatest possible heating surface in a minimum of space. Passing up from the upper part of the furnace Walls 7 the tubes 7' are collected into groups the number of groups and the number of tubes in each group being suited to the requirements of the'boiler. In the drawings four groups of four tubes each are shown, the tubes -in each group and the groups themselves being arranged in paral- .lel. ranged in series while the groups are in parallel or the tubes in each group may be in parallel and the groups in series.

Each group of tubes j connects to a subdistributer g diagrammatic plan and sec- The tubes in each group may be ar-- lional elevation views of one of these subdistributers being shown in Figs. 8 to 13.

These sub distributcrs are arranged to offer as nearly as possible an equal division and (low of water passing to each of the. tubes 7'. The sub-distributors Z: are counccted'up to distributing device n. a detail sectional and elevation View of one t'orni of which is shown in Figs. 5, t3 7. The distributor n is arranged to give an equal division and flow of feed water to OtlCll of the sub-distributors It. A pipe Z provided with a non-return valve on connects a with the lower part'of the drum (4. The non-return valve m may in some cases be omitted. filter .2 is preferably provided in the pipe. I and in some cases when a filter is employed the non-return valve in may be dispensedwith.

In some cases when few grids are u ed, the.

sub-distributors may be dispensed with and enough holes provided on the main distril utcr n' to feed all the grids. Also in some cases when many grids are used Subasubwlis tributcrs fed from the sul'i-distriluiters may be used.

The drum, it, is preferably situated at such a distance above the upper part of the grids, j; that an appreciable head is available to feed the grids, j. I

A- pipe 0, connects the steam collector. h, with the upper portion of the drum, a, this pipe being provided with a non-return valve, 72, which permits steam to flow from, 71-, to a, but not from a. to h. This pipe is for the purpose of balancing the pressures in h and (1 It is upon this balance of pressure that the satisfactory working of the gravity feed from a to the grids, j, and the maintenanc of a supply of hot stored feed Water in a, at a temperature not less than that corresponding to the pressure in]: depends.

Above the grids, j, and between them and the drum, 0, is situated a group of feed hea ing coils, 2 preferably serpentine, these coils are heated by the gases leaving the top of the coils. A further group of feed heating coils, a, are providedlin the u'pcast flue and are connected in series with the group y. The feed water which may have been previously heated by exhaust steam-is ted to one end of the coil, '00. from which it descends to the group, y. The feed water thus meets first the relatively .cool gases passing up the upcast flue and then the hotter gases leaving the tops of the grids and is progressively heated to a high temperature. After leaving the coils, 1 the hot feed water is passed into the drum, a by means of a perforated pipe, 9, which sprays the entering water. Although a perforated pipe is de scribed, any suitable spraying device may be employed. Any suitable torm of furnace may be employed with-this boiler but the 60 1 .portioned to accord wih the amount 'of' which we'pr efer to employ for small boilers especially is a -liquid fuel furnace,

and in the drawings we have shown a bat "tery of oil fuel-burners, r, by way of i1lus-' tration only. A casing, t, preferably doubleand well lagged surrounds; the drum, a, and conducts the waste gases away. \Vhen a double casing is used the space between the two skins of the'casin'g, is in communication with the atmosphere pref- -erably near its upper end that-isin the region of the upcast, at about the level 1 of the top of the furnace walls the space may '-'be closed in and .an'air trunl'r leadslto the- I .material shown? In some In some cases when liquid fuel furnaces are employed, a portion of the heated'ai-r is 25.

ted to the combustion spaceand another portion is fed to. the vapor mixi'ng space to mingle with and .assist thevaporizatio'n' of-the liquid fuel vapor, and suitable regu lating'means may be provided to control the inlet of air. I. n The action of .thegenerator is as fol:

. lows:-Starting with the headers, a and d, ,and' the tubes, 'c, full of water and, the drum, (1,, say with water enough to cover the pipe, d, the furnace 'is set going. In a short time the water in the drum, (1., headers,

c and d, and'tub'es, e, will bein active cir-.

. culat-ion and risin in temperature; at the same time the gri 9', and collector, h, are

being raised to a high temperature. When the temperature of the water in thedrum, a,

is sufiicientlyhigh, which is indicated the pressure shown on the gage, the distributer valve, 8, is opened and h'otwater passes through the distribute/1342 to thesubdistributers,.:k,' and on entering the grids, j, is converte'd'into steam which dried and more or less superheated as it passes down the grids, j,

In some cases, is preferable open the distributor valve,- a, before setting'the .furv nace in operation in order to fill the grids and collector, h,.to prevent their overheating; under'these circumstances the vapor disengaged from the water. in grids, j, or collector,-h, will pass back tothe drum, a, (iiot shown) being of course shut. 1 They drum, a, isfed with hot by the ,pi'pe, g, the rateoffeed being PTO-g o ,ning given to yalve, s, itbeing necessary a fall times to: maintain the water level in a,

the" pipe, 0, the engine regulating valve feed water at least at sufiicient height to cover the end of header,v d, and when under full run-. ning conditions it .is desirable to keep the level as high and constant as possible to meetfluctuations in load, the normal running supplies of hot feed for the grids, j, being' supplied first to the drum by the system of feed heating coils, w andy, andthen to the .gridsin order that the reserve in a, may not be reduced unless needed for meetingan overload. .When however a lar e overload does occur, the supply of 'fee water is stopped by any-suitable means (not shown' in the drawings) and the: reserve of hot water in the drum, a, is drawn upon. As

this reserve is already at a temperaturecorresponding to the pressure at which the boiler is" working, it is only necessary to supply the latent heat required to evaporate it and tosuperheat the steam to the required degree. The capacity ofthe vessel, or, must .be such that-itwill contain a sufiicient' reserve of water-to enable the boiler to meet I any. predetermined overload for a given time. Under normal running conditionsv the drum'a, acts asa'n intermediary. vessel in the course ofthe feed-passing from the coils,-w and y, to the grids, j, and as above Stated it is desirable to maintain the level in a, as high and as coiistant as possible in water may be maintained and not reduced until required tomeet an overload. This it will be seen performs the'- func-- the well known Halpin thermal drum, a tions of p storage reservoir as describedi'n the U. S. Patent specifichtion 513,922 and gives a very great de ree of flexibility to; the boiler as it IS possib e Within very wide limits to regulate the output of the boiler to. the require" ments of-the load to be met; Further should a considerable fluctuating load have to be.

' order that the maximum reserve of hot feed dealt with in service, the feed waterstor-- age drum, (1,, is made of sufiicient capacity to cope with the peak. load while thesystem of i feed heating coils, w and y, is designed to maintain 'ainormal supply of hot feed water. If only-a small overload is tobe met by the generator it i'sjpossible to maintain a small supplyfof' feed water andthe amount of stam necessary to meet this overload still- ,be obtained because this ,supply of feed water will receive a, preheating in the coils,-' cc, and the temperature ,ofthe water in the.-' 7

thermal storage drum, a, be maintained by circulating 0011s, 6. These grids, 7', are not mtended to act at any time 111 normal runniiig as water, heating or'boiling tubes be cause'the water fed to them by way of the storage drum, a, is already at a temperature such-that the release consequent from the entrance'bfthe water into the hot grids is suificie'nt in conjunction with theheatof the rat grids to convert the water into steam and the function oft-the grids, 7', is to supply the necessary latent heat to evaporate and dry this steam, and to impart superheat to it, the degree of superheat being controlled by the rate of feed from the vessel and intensity of the furnace heat. 'Excepting by accident or misuse in no case in normal running can water find its way into the steam collector, 7. as it is completely vaporized. dried and Sll1')01ll8fli8(l in its passage downward through the rids, 7'. At; starting however the grids, 1, may under certain "circumstances be used as boiling tubes as above described but this it should be distinctly understood is only a'temporary condition.

Another method of starting up which we sometimes prefer to employ is to shut the valve, 8, and to fill the headers, 0 and (Z, and tubes, 6, and put enough water in a, to cover the end of (3. W'e then start the furnace and when the grids, 7", are hot enough pump vv'ter which preferably. but not necessarily, passed through the preheating coils, :1", into the grids by a connection on the pipe between the non-return valve, m, and the distributer, "/2. having first opened the valve, s. to allow the pumped water to pass to the grids. the non-return valve, on, prevents the pumped water from passing into the drum, a. The grids. thus act "as an ordinary flash boiler but this again it should be distinctly understood is only a temporary start ing condition and ceases as soon as the gencrator and stored water a whole are suiticicntly l aited up.

\Ve prefer to make the uniform distribution of water to all the grids. 7', through the distrilmter, h. and siilrtlistributers, A1, entirely dependent on the effect of gravity upon the water. In order that this effect may be completely realized it is necessary to keep the 'facilities offered to the flow of water to each and all'the grids as uniform as possible; it is to this end that the arrangement of distributors and sub-distributers about to be described has been adapted. Further it is important that all the streams of 'ater should, fall through the-same vertical height and consequently the connecting pipes and subdistributers are disposed to attain this result.

It will be understood that gravity is free to act on the water owing to the balancing of pressures in the drun1, a., and collector, h, efi'ected by the pipe, 0.

A preferred construction of the sub-d1s-. tribnters is illustrated in FigsB to 13. The pipe from it enters at 2. A ferrule, 3, provided with four holes leading from-a cloned recess distributes the feed enteringby the pipe from a, to each of the four equally inclined passages, 4. Two of these passages are stopped by plugs, 5. T he passages each. communicate with passages, 6, which lead t0 the grids forming the group of grids \vhich are-fed by thesub-distrihuter. The passages. (l, are also inclined the inclinations of all the pass gee. 6. being identical. lt will be seen that by thus keeping'all the in'- clinations and facilities for flow equal for all the passages uttered to the feed, an equal distribution of the feed is obtained. All the sub-distributers are alike and offer equal facilities for flow. An equal distribution to all the grids thus obtained.

In conjunction with this generator we may use various well known automatic devices torcontrolling thefced of water to the drum, (1, by way of the coils. a and 1 also the feed of water, from the drum, IT, to the grids, j, also the intensity of the furnace temperature. These automatic controlling devices may he 'depcndent'for this actuation either upon outside means. or upon the pressure or temperature of the steam or the furnace gases or a combination of these and may be in some cases intercol'mected. These automatic controlling devices hm'vever form no part of the present invention.

- Although we have described and illustrated one method of carrying our invention into effect we in no way limit ourselves to this particular construction. Foninstance we may in some cases arrange the grids, j, radially around a circle or at right angles to one another, again the feed storage drum, (1, may take the form .of :1 vertical vessel and may be differently constructed and may in some cases be provided with tubes inside or outside or Field tubes or the like, and may be placed in any convenient position with respect to'the remainder of the parts of the generator. \Vhen the drum, a, is placed in such a position that there is no head of Wa-- ter available to feed the grids by gravity from the drum, (1, the supply of hot feed from a, to the grids may be effected by means of a pump. injector or the like. the pump or injector taking water from a and delivering it to the distributer, 11. Further the form of furnace wall and disposition of water wall (when a water wall is used) snb dist ributers and steam collector may be variedas required. The cross section of the tubes employed in thergrids, j, and tubes, e,-'has been shown as circular but may be of any suitable section for instance triangular or square. 1 x

The non-return valves shown in the pipes, Z and 0, may in some cases be omitted and the form of the distributer, n, and sub-distributers, k, may be varied to suit the requirements of modified designs.

It is to be observed that the breaking up ters Patent is t eta,

water well tubesfearidth division of the feed water passing from the; drum,=,- to the grids,- j, into a number of separate streams each ofwhich has the samegarea of crosssection 'as the original "tubes; has the effect of, reducing; the internal frictional resist I ances of the boiler.

Having now described 'our'invention what we claim as new and desire to secure by Let- 1. In combination with a steam generator, a thermal storage vessel containing water and adapted to'store the heat received from the generator when the latter isgenerating an excess of steam, meansexternally connected to said vessel to maintain the waterin the thermal storage vessel at a temperature substantially equal to that corresponding tothe pressure of the steamgenerat-ing in the generator and a flash element to which said water is delivered whereby said flash element has only to supply the heat necessary to evaporate said water without changingthe temperature thereof.

2. In combination with a steam generator,

a thermal storage vessel containing water and adapted to store the'heat received from the generator when the latter is generating an excess of-steam, means acting independently of the generator to maintain this water at the temperature of the steam in.contact with it, a flash element and means for obtainin an uninterrupted flow of hot'water to said ash elementfrom the thermalstorage vessel whereby the former supplies only the heat necessary to evaporate said water without changing thetemperature thereof.

3. Asteam generator comprising in combination a thermal storage vessel containing, water and adapted to store the heat received from the generator when the latter is gen:

erat-ing an-excess of steam, a flash element in uninterrupted communication with said vessel and means for maintaining said water at the temperature substantially: corresponding to the pressure at which steam is gen;- erated, said means comprising a plurality of water circiilatingand heating elements forming art of said thermal storage vessel, said ash element comprising aplurality of tubes for generating and superheating the steam whereby the flash element supplies water when steam is required.

4. In combination with a steam generator, a thermal storageelement containing water and adapted to-store the heat received from the generator when the latter is generatingan excess ofsteam, said thermalstorage eleonly the heat necessary tovaporize said 'ment consisting ofa feed water storage drum and a plurality of water circulating and iaia llashelementlconsisting of a pluralityof tubularflash steam generating. and superheatingelements'receiving water. at a 'tem-' perature corresponding to the pressure of the stearn del ivered bythe generator in par- 4 'allel' or in series from the bottom of the feed water storage drum.- W

5. A steam generator comprising in combination a flash element and a thermal storage element in -uninterrupted communication therewith, said thermal storage element consisting of a feed water storage drum and a plurality of feed water circulating and heatmg elements and said flash element consisting of a plurality of tubular flash generatmg and superheating elements arran ed in a vertical, zigzag manner, a steam co lector .into which the "lower ends of said tubular sci elements connect, aconnec'tion between the Y upper ends of-said tubular elements and the bottom of said feed water storagedrum and means in said connection acting to uniformly distribute the water to said tubular flash steam generating and superheating elements.

6. A-steam generator comprising'in combination a flash element, a thermal storage element in; uninterrupted communication therewith and a furnace therefonsaid thermalstorage element consisting of a feed water storage drum, headers in communication with said drum and a plurality of tubes connecting said headers, thecirculatien throu b said tubes, headers and drum taking p'aceby. convection, said tubes being arranged to. form a water wall around said furnace and said flash element consisting of a plurality of tubular flash steam generatin'g'and super heating elements arranged in a vertical'zi zag manner, a steam collector into whic the lower ends of said tubular'elements con-J nect, a connection between the upper ends of said tubular elements and the bottom ofsaid feedfwater storage drum, and means in -said connection acting to uniformly distribute the feed water to said tubular flash steam generating and superheating elements.

water'storage drum headers in comniunicau tion with said drum anda pluralityof tubes connecting said headers, the circulation through said tubes-headers. anddrum taking place byyconvection, said tubes being'a'n' I.

ranged to form a water wall around said furnace. and said flash'element consisting of a pluralityof tubular flash steam generating and superheating elements arranged in' a. vertical zig-zag manner, a steam collector 125,

into which the lower ends of said tubular heating elements in connection therewith,

elements connect, a connection between the upper ends of said tubular elements and the bottom of said feed water storage drunu means in said connection acting to uniformly distribute the feed water to said tubular flash steam generating and super-heating elements and communication between said steam collector and said feed Water storage drum whereby the steam pressure in these elements is equalized and the feed from said drum to the flash steam generating and 1 superheating elements can take place by gravity.

names to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses. v

ARC-HIBALD EDW ARD DOBBS. \VALTER EAST. JOHN SHIRLEY HOWKINS. \Vitnesses to the signatures of the said \Vulter Eastand John Shirley Howkins:

THOMAS H. "WEST, BERTRAM H. MATTHEWS. Vitnesses to the signature of the said Archibald Edward Dobbs: PAUL KNABENSHUE,

M. E. ORR. 

